Team GBR's men's water polo team selected for World University Games 13/07/2017

With just under six weeks until the Opening Ceremony, a talented team of thirteen men’s water polo players have been selected to represent Team GBR at this year’s World University Games in Chinese Taipei, 19 – 30th August.

Held biennially in major cities across the globe, the World University Games (WUGS) sees athletes come together to compete across 22 sports with the Summer Universiade the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics.

Following rigorous selection trials, the team including athletes from seven different universities, will compete in Pool A of the competition – against other nations including Chinese Taipei, France and Korea.

The team selected to compete in the EU Nations, was chosen with the Summer Universiade in mind – and used an opportunity to develop the squad ahead of Games in Taipei.

Among the stand out talent is Aaron Winstanley, who was was named England Programmes Water Polo Player of the Year at the ASA Aquatics Awards in 2016. The Edge Hill University student played for City of Manchester men's team as they won their first British Championship in 2016, while he also captained British U19s at the European Championship qualifiers in Turkey this year.

Also in the team are three Welsh players – Graham Harrington, Morgan Hirsch and Jack Simcox. Harrington, a University of Birmingham student, has played for a number of Great Britain Junior teams from U15 to U19 and currently also plays with the Welsh senior international men’s team.

The men’s water polo team will join almost 10,000 participants from over 170 countries expected to compete at the Games – with the overall Great Britain delegation to reach over 160. Team GBR will also enter a team in both the men’s and women’s competitions – for the first time since 2011.

To be eligible, athletes must also be studying towards a degree or diploma at a university or similar institute – or have finished study in the year preceding the Games.

The full men’s water polo team set to compete at the World University Games in Taipei is as follows:

Addison

Brown

Edge Hill University

Lewis

Daly

University of Liverpool

Jordan

Elliot

Manchester Metropolitan University

Thomas

Grieve

Sheffield Hallam University

Graham

Harrington

University of Birmingham

Morgan

Hirsch

University of Birmingham

Elliot

Kelly

Sheffield Hallam University

Joel

Leighton

Manchester Metropolitan University

Daniel

Paddon

Manchester Metropolitan University

Peter

Pickford

Sheffield Hallam University

Jack

Simcox

Cardiff University

Ben

Tinkler-Davies

Cambridge University

Aaron

Winstanley

Edge Hill University

The team will be headed up by coach Tim Dunsbee, alongside assistant coach Matt Holland and Team Manager Dave King.

About Team GBR and the World University Games

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), the national governing body for High Education (HE) sport, is responsible for delivering Great Britain representative teams in the worldwide international university sporting programme.